Rafa Benitez has left Chinese club Dalian Professional by mutual consent with a year left on his contract.
In 2019 when he is Newcastle contract was running down he was linked with the Celtic job that had been vacated by Brendan Rodgers.
There are various versions of how much substance there was to contact with the Spaniard, after winning the 2019 Scottish Cup Final Neil Lennon was given the job on a permanent basis with a 12 month rolling contract.
Just after noon today The Athletic reported:
Rafa Benitez has left his position as manager of Dalian Professional, the Chinese Super League club, by mutual consent, reports George Caulkin.
Benitez, the 60-year-old former manager of Newcastle United, Chelsea and Liverpool, where he won the Champions League in 2005, had a season remaining on his lucrative £12 million-a-year contract, but is now free to consider other offers.
The Spaniard has been at his family home in Merseyside since the end of the last Super League season in November, when Dalian successfully negotiated a series of relegation play-off matches.
There has been increasing speculation about the position of Neil Lennon, in December Celtic announced that there would be a managerial review in the new year.
During his time at Newcastle, who he failed to save from relegation in 2016, Benitez was regularly thought to be in conflict with Mike Ashley, looking for the investment needed to take the club clear of bottom half finishes in the EPL.
Should there be any discussions with Celtic it is likely that Benitez would want a far larger element of control than Neil Lennon currently has.